Downriver Today

Michigan has announced an initiative to fund 529 affordable residential units through a $13 million investment to address the housing shortage in the state.

According to Michigan.gov, the investments are expected to generate $151 million for the state economy and facilitate 1,000 jobs. The developments will be located in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Midland, Nashville, Traverse City, Wyoming and Ann Arbor. 

"We know that creating affordable housing benefits everyone in the state by stimulating local economic growth, but it also creates opportunities for Michiganders to have equitable access to safe, quality, affordable housing for their families, making for stable and secure living and upward mobility," Chad Benson, Michigan State Housing Development Authority rental development director, told Michigan.gov.

The federal government’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program will help make these projects possible as developers receive incentives to construct affordable housing in cities throughout the state where they are needed. Roughly 561 units will be developed or renovated through the program. 

"Michigan should always be a place where everyone can afford to live, work and raise a family. As rent and home prices increase across the country, we are moving forward with an aggressive plan here in Michigan to build more quality affordable housing. This will help put money back in people’s pockets and give them a place to call home,” Whitmer said, according to Michigan.gov. “Since I took office, we have built nearly 12,000 affordable, attainable housing units, and I look forward to much more progress. Under the Building Michigan Together plan that I signed into law in April, we’re charging forward with an ambitious goal of creating 75,000 new or rehabilitated housing units within the next five years.”

Whitmer added that everyone in the state deserves a safe place to live in order to achieve their potential and believes that these projects help residents pursue that goal.